Old Fashioned Baking Powder Biscuits

Taken from Pillsbury Kitchens' Cookbook:

2 cups of all purpose or unbleached flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft butter/margarine
3/4 cup milk

Oven: 450F
Combine flour, baking powder and salt
add milk and butter and stir with fork until a soft dough forms
Turn dough onto flour surface
Knead gently 10-12 time until no longer sticky
Roll/press dough to half inch thickness, cut with 2-inch flour cutter
Place biscuits 1/2 inch apart for soft sides or 1 inch apart for crusty sides
Bake at 450F for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown
(recipe makes 12-15 biscuits)

For cheese biscuits, add 1/2 cup shredded cheese with flour

Simple Pad Thai

I love Pad Thai.... so this is my rendition of it:

Sauce (mix it together):
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of chilli sauce (lessen it if you don't like it spicy)
2 tbsp of ketchup
3 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of peanut butter/peanut sauce
Pepper and salt to taste


1 packet of rice noodles (soften it in warm water for 30 mins)
1 brown onion/2 shallots
1 tsp of minced garlic
Bean sprouts
2 eggs
half pound of minced meat (beef/pork/chicken)
Crushed peanuts


1. Prepare the rice noodles. Normally, soak it in warm water until it is soften
2. Stir fry onions and garlic in vegetable oil
3. When fragrant, add in the minced meat and when cooked, add in the soften rice noodles and stir fry for a few minutes
4. Add in sauce and mix it together with the noodles
5. Crack in the eggs and stir fry
6. Lastly, add in the bean sprouts (if you like it raw, don't add it in, you can use it as topping) because I personally do not like raw sprouts.
7. Top the dish with crushed peanuts and cilantro + a wedge of lime

I made it for a friend who is Vegan.... I just eliminated the eggs and meat and use Vegetable stock instead.... :)

Simple Escargots

My husband and I love eating escargots!

(The pic above -- we haven't sprinkled the cheese .. haha!)

Here's our recipe, which is super simple and fast to make:

You need a ramekin (or a few if you are making for many people)

Ingredients:
Escargots (you can find it canned in stores)
Mozzarella cheese (grated)
Fresh garlic (minced)
Bacon bits (you can buy this ready made package in stores)
Fresh parsley
Butter (depends how many you are making)

Fill the ramekins first with a slob of butter. Then line the inside of the ramekin with minced garlic and fresh parsley. Put in 2-3 escargots per hole/ramekin. Sprinkle the cheese generously all over the escargots and then sprinkle some bacon bits on top.

Pop the ramekins in the oven (350 degrees) for about 10 mins or so.... keep the light on and check on it periodically. When you see the butter bubbling, it is ready!

Serve with French baguettes/bread. Pair it with a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

Bon Appetit!


Another variation of the recipe.... if you don't have ramekins, use MUSHROOMS!!!!! See below....

VOILA!!!

Malaysian Curry Chicken

Wow! I didn't realize that I have not bee updating my food blog for two years. Guess life catches up on you. Here's another one of my favourites (and I can't go too long without eating it).

Malaysian Curry Chicken:

Ingredients:
500 lb chicken (either drumsticks or diced chicken, any other white meat is fine too)
Potatoes (2-3 diced)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or peanut oil
1 can of coconut cream/milk
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
Curry powder (2 tablespoons)

Part A (put in food processor/blend it):
2 medium sized onions OR 4 shallots
1 inch fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
5 birds-eye chillies (if you are afraid of it being too spicy, just cut down on this)
2 lemongrass (use white part only)

Part B:
Cumin seeds (a pinch of it)
Cinnamon, 2 sticks (break it in)
Curry leaves or Kaffir lime leaves (2-3)
Star anise (2-3 depending on size)
Cloves (2-3 depending on size)

Steps:
1) Heat oil in frying pan
2) Fry Part A and Part B together for a few minutes (or until fragrant)
3) Mix in the potatoes and fry for a couple of minutes, add in soy sauce and curry powder
4) Add in the chicken and simmer until you can see the flesh is cooked
5) Add in coconut milk and stir then simmer for a bit, add in salt and pepper to your own taste
6) Voila! It's done. You can garnish the top with either green onion, parsley or coriander leaves. Serve it with rice or noodles.

Bon Appetit!

For a healthier version, substitute coconut milk/cream with yogurt or milk.

Black Bean Burgers -- going vegan!

Been a long time since my last entry! Life really has taken a toll on me....
My friend gave me a big bag of black beans and I really didn't know what to do with it. So I decided to try to make burgers out of it. Turned out pretty well.... my husband liked it so much!!

Black Bean Burgers
500g black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 large egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, combine black beans, onion and jalapeno until pulverized.
3. Put the food processor mixture in a medium bowl and add rest of ingredients, stirring until combined.
4. Form the burger mixture into six patties on oiled baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned on the bottom and thoroughly cooked.
5. Serve on hamburger buns with whatever condiments you like.

Finally tried making Sushi....

Have been wanting to try to make Sushi for a long time but it always seems easier to just dine out. I love going to Sushi bars and picking the dishes from the sushi train...

Anyhow, I finally decided I should at least try to make it once. Turned out pretty okay... considering I am an amateur! This website helped me to roll it up properly: http://sushiday.com/archives/2006/10/26/how-to-roll-maki-sushi/

Simple South American Chili

This is a popular dish in South America and I have just found out when I arrived in Vancouver that it is a dish called "chili"! Chili???? To us Asians, chili is simply the vegetable itself, the spicy hotness you feel when you accidentally chew on a piece of it....(some Chinese dishes have fresh chillies in it and sometimes you would want to avoid it because it is alarmingly spicy!! Especially the SzeChuan ones....)

Anyhow, I have explored the makings of some chili and here goes my recipe:

You can have the option of having no meat in it (purely vegetarian style) or just add some ground beef or chicken....

Ingredients A:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded and sliced)
6 cloves of garlic

Ingredients B:
1 cup of beer
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans
1 can of red kidney beans
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce/tabasco
1 tsp salt
1 can of tomato paste (if the sauce is too watery)

Saute ingredients A together for a few minutes till fragrant. Add Ingredients B after that. Simmer for around 15 mins. Voila!!!!! Serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top and corn bread or rice! (OH! If there is ground meat, make sure it is well cooked and saute with Ingredients A)

For easy reference, here is my recipe of Buttemilk Cornbread (in picture above) --- a perfect pairing with chili...

Ingredients:
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk, low fat
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg OR 2 egg-whites

Now, mix all the ingredients above together. Grease your loaf pan and stick it into the oven (450F). Bake it for 20-25 mins OR until it is dry when you stick a toothpick in.

NOTE: If you can't find buttermilk in your local store or don't have it handy, you can make it.... check out this link on how to make it: http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/r/How-To-Make-Buttermilk.htm